Thread: the transition from LM to melee...

ok, my LM is at the level cap, has pretty much all the gear he needs, and is bored of doing RoF and Foundry. I've already run a RK through the moria revamp, and my minstrel isn't far behind. However, I don't want to continue moria until I know if the rest is also getting a revamp :/
So, I'm deciding to roll another alt, but this time it's going to have to be a melee class rather than tactical :c So, if anyone has advice on which class would be nicest for someone used to squishes, it would be much appreciated. Oh, and I suppose that really I will need advice on how to play the class too. (what stats to focus on, virtues, etc.)
Thank you

This is just my two cents, and is by no means a comprehensive guide. My experience is low level or in the moors, so you will need someone else's help for endgame raiding.

The Burglar is a lot like an LM, in that it requires lots of planning ahead, and has lots of CC and very good burst damage. It's slow early on, but is supposed to be great at late levels. Whenever I see a burg on my creep, I run as fast as I can the other way. Usually I've been killed by the time I've seen it, so running is pretty much a no go.

Guardians are my highest favourite class personally, and are fairly easy to pick up and play. The threat building is much easier than wardens, and they are extremely hard to kill (obviously). The DPS is low, unless running in overpower, but I always have power problems there. In the moors, Guardians are usually ignored, because they don't do a lot of damage and are a pain to kill.

Champs are in a really good place right now. Mine has more "oh ####" skills than my guard. The DPS is much higher than the guard, and it's sustained is better than burgs. It has bubbles, dire need, and tonnes of other skills to help with survive-abillity. I hate seeing them in the moors, they are a pain to kill, have high DPS, and an AOE stun that's an absolute pain.

The Warden is another tank. It is really difficult to play well, and tanking is very hard to learn, They have lots of self-heals, and are pretty much the best soloers of the game. If you're willing to put in time and effort to the class, it will pay off.

Hope this helps.

Hi there!

Having played a LM to cap-level, I can understand your wanting something different.

My recommendation would be a Champ. They are a fun class to level-up that is very durable and they are the complete opposite of LMs in terms of style of play. Nothing beats charging into the fray hacking and slashing and screaming your head off!! Again, it's quite a rush when you compare it to the meticulous play of a LM.

If you go Champ, I think most would agree that Might, Agility and Vitality (in that order) are the most important stats. In terms of virtues, again, focusing on Might and Agility (so Discipline, Determination, Fortitude and Valour should be concentrated upon) and also mitigations (Compassion, Charity and Patience for example) will help improve your survivability.

Ilv

I would also suggest rolling a champion. You will find that they actually have something in common with the loremaster, as they are the only other class capable of the massive amount of AOE damage output that the LM can do. I suggest running in ardour stance first, (or as early as possible) then playing with the other two. At cap the champion is quite an able tank if traited correctly. Might Vitality resistances and mitigations need to be your focus for virtutes. Also take your time to play with both the two handed weapons and the dual wield. Those are the two classes that I have taken to cap thus far, and although I enjoy the LM more, the champion is very fun for the reasons that some other posters have listed. Keep us updated on what you choose. And good luck!

I like how captain wasn't mentioned yet.

Captain is essentially, like LM a support class.
Your role can vary, although not for the jack-of-all-trades reason turbine advertises.
If you trait/equip for DPS your DPS is OK and sustainable, although power-costly and only 'OK' so not good and barely over decent.
When levelling, you'll probably never meet these circumstances as you out-level your gear and can have a hard time acquiring all traits, therefore levelling can be quite slow on a captain.

However, once you hit cap that's where the fun starts. Captains are MADE for groups. You can heal, buff your group to double potential (seriously), help with spike damage (incoming AND outgoing) and pick off stray mobs. AT THE SAME TIME. It's great, as a captain you really feel important to your group. And if things start going the wrong way, pop In Harms Way (50% of damage your friends take gets redirected to you) and Last Stand (you cannot be killed for some time but your morale can drop as low as 1), and you just effectively applied a 25s -50% damage debuff to all mobs attacking your FS.
And when that's done you can bring back the people that died with your rezzes!

Try a Champion.
Why?
It's completely different. Planning fights? Using CC? No way. Get in there and swirl your blades 'til nothing is moving anymore... or you can't move anymore

Burglar is a very good transition from LM. You need to plan, and you are used to that, use a lot of skills in every fight and you are used to that, and know that you can, in the end, switch a mob off to get a respite if need be.

lm i feel immplanning a lil bit before but mostly during a fight burg is kinda the opposite, its almost perfect if the dagger skills launched fire id be right at home.

champ is also a nice break from thinking if you need it(not bashing champs, just how i felt after playing lm)

I am with Mytion. My Cappy feels like an inverse LM. You buff vrs debuff, heal the same, but get the job done differently. The LM exp made learning the Cappy pretty easy, but the Cappy is different enough that the game play felt new.

Wait? What? The Loremaster is a melee class *brandishes stick menacingly*.

I raise near enough +100% melee damage on my physical mastery. PHEAR MY STICK!! I think that's why the orcs are always stealing it. "Bad Orc!" <make a big fire> "My stick!" <thwack!>

OH... Go on then. Play a champ. Love playing my champ as a complete change. Brain in neutral, axes out, hackhackHackhackHackhack.

Nothing will get you over the hump of mezzes, debuffs and other support tasks and ranged DPS like rushing up with two axes and making unintelligible "RARRRGH!!" noises as you dismember stuff. There's even a "No stealing my axe!" skill.

Captain is kind of fun, guardian is ok in a group, but for downtime when I have total loremaster brain strain - it's the champ that gives me the recovery I need.

Going to have to cast my vote for Champ as well. I am leveling one through Moria right now, and it is an absolute blast to play. So much fun aggroing the whole room, popping all of those oh $#%@! skills and seeing if you kill them before kill you. There aren't many things more gratifying in LOTRO then using one of those aoe skills and watching 3 mobs drop at once.

I recently rolled a new alt and this time I decided to change to a melee class. After looking at a few of them, I decided to go for a champ and I love it. Once you get over the initial shock of having to run in and hit them (felt odd to me at first) The skills come quite natural. If you are used to an RK also then the champ pips should be easy enough to get used to.

They got some nice quirks, like the interrupting clobber, aoe power giver, aoe stun and BUBBLE \O/

After my years of being an LM I always spam my power giver as a champ, people forget champs can do it too!

So to sum it up I recommend trying out the champ

Playing a Champion as a Main and switching to LM was a decision based on the same reasons as OP: I wanted something completely different. I would suggest Champion if you're looking for a different style play and a completely different outlook on a way to approach fights. However if you're looking for a general melee-based alt that might be more support-ish than champion, I would suggest Captain. I created one for the sheer reason that there was a lack in a kin I was in a long time ago, and although not as engaging as LM, it is a highly enjoyable class to play in instances and raids (never as enjoyable as LM, we're the best class ever but hey what's new :P ?)

If you are willing to take the time to learn the class, the Warden is the most kick-### class in LOTRO. You won't kill mobs fast, but the feeling you get by standing in front of 10 mobs trying to kill you and being unable to drop your morale at all is unpayable.

And for end-game content the Warden can be a really amazing class, but it will need a big effort. If you like the challenges and feeling important for your group I'd say this is the perfect mixture.

I currently have 3 characters at cap level: a Lore-Master (my first one), a Captain (second), and a Warden. I'd say that for leveling the Lore-Master and Warden have been the most interesting, the LM because you really need to plan every battle to come out succesful and the Warden because you are always learning the class, trying to memorize your gambits and perfecting your rotations for maximum heal, buff or dps depending on the situation.

The Captain, at one point it was a complete pain to level. Very few interesting things to do with it outside of groups (in group it is a whole different story) and a poor dps if you are not decently geared.

Thanks for the replies everyone, I'm going to roll a champ Apart from the reasons stated here, I've just done the session play: We Cannot Get Out

I think you will be happy with your choice. I was in the same situation as you and decided to roll a champ and LOVED it. He's level 34 right now and it is the polar opposite of LM and I love it. LM will always be the best class but champ is a great compliment. You get to turn your brain off and HACK things to death :P

The best way to keep champ interesting is don't fight opponents one at a time. Gather up 3 or 4 or 5 (depending on your CD's) and just blend it all down.

Hope you have fun! and yes that instance was hugeeee in my decision lol

On a related topic, I find that minstrel is also a great class to play... I took him deeper into moria than intended and well... he ended up at level 58... whoopsie